Bids opened for Allen County administration building

LIMA — The vision for a new administration building for Allen County government agencies is one step closer to becoming realized, as county commissioners met Thursday to accept submitted bids for the building’s construction.

A total of eight companies submitted bids for portions of the projects, including general construction, electric, plumbing and security systems:

• Tuttle Construction, Lima

• ACI Construction Company, Findlay

• Charles Construction Services, Lima

• All Temp Refrigeration, Lima

• Botkins Electric & Plumbing Company, Botkins

• Kester’s Electric, Warsaw, Indiana

• Sidney Electric, Sidney

• Northwestern Ohio Security Systems, Lima

The project, with a pre-bid estimated cost of just under $17 million, is fully funded thanks in part to money allocated through the American Rescue Plan Act. Commissioners said in August the hope was to see the project get fully underway by Nov. 1, with demolition on the Hofeller, Hiatt and Clark building taking place in mid-October. The neighboring building at 221 N. Main St. was demolished in late September by Ben’s Construction at a cost of $21,000.

According to WDC Group Principal Architect Chris Widener, the review process will involve finding the apparent lowest and best bid and conducting phone interviews with those bidders prior to making a recommendation on awarding the bid, a process he expects to be completed next week.